Thursday, August 04, 2016

What they ignore

Health care plans sold on the Michigan insurance exchange set up
under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could see double-digit premium
increases next year. Insurers selling private plans for the program
commonly known as Obamacare are asking state regulators to approve
premium hikes averaging 17.3 percent.

The requests of Michigan insurers for double-digit rate increases
confirm the projections of a Kaiser Family Foundation report in June
that ACA insurers in about one third of all major metropolitan areas
would be seeking premium hikes of an average of 10 percent on the most popular Obamacare plans.

A sampling of the requested 2017 rate increases in Michigan provided by the Detroit Free Press includes:

• Blue Care Network of Michigan—14.8 percent average rate increase

• Blue Cross Blue Shield—18.8 percent

• Priority Health—13.9 percent

• Humana—39.2 percent

The new rates would raise the cost of an average mid-range “silver” plan to $477 a month for a 50-year-old male nonsmoker.

Days of 'news' coverage of Donald Trump when real issues aren't explored.

Better believe the American people will be more concerned with insurance rates in January of next year then with all the drama over what Donald Trump said to some family.

Strikes in IraqAttack, fighter, ground-attack and remotely piloted aircraft
conducted seven strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of
Iraq’s government:-- Near Baghdadi, a strike destroyed an ISIL rocket cache.-- Near Mosul, three strikes struck an ISIL foreign fighter meeting facility and an ISIL training site.-- Near Qayyarah, two strikes struck three ISIL tactical units
and destroyed two ISIL vehicle borne improvised devices, two ISIL mortar
systems, an ISIL mortar position and three ISIL vehicles.-- Near Sinjar, a strike destroyed an ISIL heavy machine gun and an ISIL heavy machine gun position.

Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic
events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a
single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a
single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle
is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons
against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for
example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or
impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not
report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number
of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual
munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in
counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a
strike.

And Mika and Joe spent two hours addressing it while Matt Lauer devoted
the first hour of NBC's TODAY SHOW to exploring how dropping bombs all
over the country was supposed to help the Iraqi people while Jim Muir
used ABC's nightly broadcast to explore the cost of rebuilding when the
day came that all these bombings ended.

Just kidding.

Of course the media in the United States can't and won't discuss anything that ever actually matters.

2 August 2016 – Just back from crisis-riven northern Iraq, where he
visited refugee camps for Iraqi and Syrian families and children, actor
Ewan McGregor, an Ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has called for more action to save children suffering the devastating effects of brutal conflicts and crises.“Many of the children I've met in Iraq have been forced to flee their
homes, risking their lives on dangerous journeys and have been exposed
to unimaginable horrors,” said the UNICEF Ambassador in a press release issued today by the agency. “The world is facing an unprecedented refugee crisis and we must do
more to protect the extraordinary number of children who have been torn
from their homes by violent conflict,” he added. Last week, Mr. McGregor travelled to Debaga camp in northern Iraq
where he met with families that have escaped the violence currently
taking place in areas surrounding Mosul in the north of the country. He
also spent time with Syrian refugees and displaced Iraqi families in
camps and communities around Erbil.
This act of humanity should be replicated everywhere, especially on our
own doorsteps. It's up to us to tell our friends, our neighbours and our
governments that refugees are welcomeDue to the conflicts sweeping across Iraq and Syria, tens of
thousands of children have been killed, injured, separated from their
parents, forced to work, tortured and recruited into fighting. “No child should be alone,” stressed the UNICEF Ambassador noting
that children uprooted by conflict find themselves alone, without family
and in grave danger.

In the press release, the agency added that the situation for
children in Iraq is becoming increasingly desperate. Around 3.6 million
children – one in five – are at serious risk of death, injury, sexual
violence, abduction and recruitment into armed groups. Many of the children are being ripped from their families and forced
to flee on their own, often making dangerous journeys and falling into
the hands of traffickers, the agency added in the release. During his visit, Mr. McGregor witnessed how UNICEF is supporting
families fleeing the Mosul area with lifesaving food and water, child
protection services and healthcare. Many of the people he met had been
previously trapped and had not had access to healthcare, education or
basic services for over two years. “One girl I met called Mirna told me how her family slept in a
disused, half-constructed shopping mall for over a year,” recalled Mr.
McGregor, praising the local community that donated food, clothes and
supplies to her family and really came together to welcome displaced
people.“This act of humanity should be replicated everywhere, especially on
our own doorsteps. It's up to us to tell our friends, our neighbours and
our governments that refugees are welcome,” emphasized the renowned
Scottish actor who in mainstream and indie films alike, from Trainspotting and Beginners and Moulin Rouge.Mr. McGregor's visit comes ahead of the Summit on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants, to be held on 19 September at the UN Headquarters, in New York.

And as E.P. Bannon (WSWS) points out,
their reporter Michael Gordon briefed the State Department on what
WikiLeaks' Iraq War Logs contained -- before the paper published stories
on on the topic.

Speaking of the State Dept, from Tuesday's press briefing:

QUESTION: Okay. At the Aspen meetings last week or over the
weekend, the CIA Director John Brennan said, quote, “We’re still a long
way from a situation in which,” quote, “the bulk of the people” – and
he’s referring to Iraq and Syria – “view their country as
representative.” Would you agree or disagree with that statement, that
characterization? If you disagree, why would – why do you disagree with
the CIA view?MR KIRBY: That sounds like a question from my history exam in college. (Laughter.)QUESTION: Well, how – is it --MR KIRBY: If not, why not. Listen, I’m going to let the – I’m
going to let the director speak for his knowledge of views. I’m not a
pollster. I don’t – I couldn’t possibly speak with any expertise about
the opinions of the majority of Iraqi citizens.This is what I can speak to, and this is what I do know, that we
continue to support Prime Minister Abadi as he continues to work through
political reforms and to try to form a more inclusive, more effective,
more efficient government in Iraq – oh, by the way, fighting a major
presence inside his own borders of a terrorist group, [the Islamic State]. So there’s
an awful lot on his plate. There’s an awful lot on the plate of the
Iraqi Government. We’re going to continue to support them as they
continue to work through these issues.And he has made progress. There is no question, when you look at
Iraqi Security Forces, that they are more inclusive, that their
battlefield competence is rising, in many ways because we’re helping
with that mission on the ground, and that they have been effective on
the ground against [the Islamic State] in many places throughout Iraq: Fallujah,
Tikrit – I mean, you could go on and on – Baiji.So we’re committed to this effort, alongside our Iraqi partners, and
we’re going to do everything that we do in Iraq with their consultation,
with their permission, with their support going forward.QUESTION: Does the U.S. view the legacy of sectarianism from
the Maliki government something that it has to help the Abadi government
deal with, to encourage them and help them – help Abadi deal with that
legacy of sectarianism?MR KIRBY: Look, certainly we’ve talked about this, that one of
the reasons that we believe [the Islamic State] was able to be so effective two years
ago going through Mosul was they went up against Iraqi Security Forces
that had not been properly maintained in leadership, in resources, in
training and equipment, and an Iraqi Security Force that Prime Minister
Maliki paid little heed to when it came to making it more pluralistic
and non-sectarian and inclusive. And so when Prime Minister Abadi came
into office, I mean, he knew that that was a problem he was inheriting,
and he has made strides to try to improve that. And we’ve seen it on the
ground; we’ve seen it in Baghdad. We’re going to continue to support
him as he works through that.

But look, nobody also ever expected the challenges facing him to be
solved overnight. Again, he’s trying to do – anything that – take [the
Islamic State] out of the picture and the tasks before him are still
daunting. They’re –
I mean, given what he inherited and the turmoil that Iraq has gone
through for so long, then you add [the Islamic State] into the picture
and you can see
that there is an awful lot of work that still needs to be done. And
we’re mindful of that. We’re committed to standing with him as he does
that, as he works through that.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has issued a travel ban on
several members of parliament accused of corruption until an
investigation is completed.
On Monday, Defence Minister Khaled al-Obeidi accused Parliament
Speaker Salim al-Jabouri and other politicians of lobbying for
businesses seeking contracts to sell overpriced planes, vehicles and
other goods to the armed forces. He said they sought to influence
ministry appointments and some tried to blackmail him.

The members of parliament accused by
Obeidi included Alia Nasayif -- who had brought the corruption
allegations against the minister -- as well as Hanan al-Fatlawi and
Mohammed al-Karbouli.Obeidi
said he was being questioned in retribution for his rejection of graft,
and accused Juburi and the MPs of seeking to blackmail him in order to
pass corrupt contracts.Juburi later held a news conference rejecting the allegations against him and the lawmakers.

These days Sheehan isn’t doing much organizing. She is housebound in
Vacaville, California, taking care of her sister Dede, who is sick with
cancer. From a distance, she sees Donald Trump upending the political
landscape, causing liberals to praise George W. Bush and conservatives
to consider voting for their nemesis, Hillary Clinton. And Cindy
Sheehan, loathed by the Republicans and abandoned by the Democrats,
doesn’t seem the least bit shocked.

“All these liberals are going, ‘Oh, look, even conservatives may vote
for Hillary!’ ” she said with a laugh. “And I’m like, yeah—why aren’t
you ashamed?”

The Vice President spoke today with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider
Al-Abadi to discuss the latest political and security developments in
Iraq. Both leaders underscored the critical importance of sustaining
momentum in the fight against ISIL and reviewed ongoing efforts to
enhance Baghdad security. Both leaders discussed the urgency of
humanitarian and stabilization efforts for the Mosul campaign and the
importance of mobilizing international support for those efforts. Prime
Minister Abadi thanked the Vice President for the vital role the U.S.
Government played in mobilizing more than $2 billion in humanitarian and
stabilization support for Iraq at the July 20 pledging conference in
Washington, D.C. The Vice President conveyed continued U.S. support for
a unified, federal, and democratic Iraq, and encouraged close
cooperation between the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional
Government as they take steps to put ISIL on a path to lasting defeat.
Both leaders pointed to ongoing successes as a sign of the close
strategic partnership between Iraq and the United States.